First 1k League Game: No Retreat vs Andys SS Wiking

This was my first game of Stephen Stouts' 1000pt Late War Flames of War Gaming League. I had decided to take a Rota Razvedki list from Hammer and Sickle as I really like the hodgepodge "gypsy caravan" look. The list for this and the next 5 games is:

• Rota HQ in M3A1 Scout cars with .50cals
• Full (9 team) Rota Platoon in Universal Carriers
• 7 team Rota in Captured SfKfz 251 Half tracks
• 4 BA-64 Armoured Cars
• 4 M10 Tank Destroyers
• 2 Decoy Panthers
  

So almost no Soviet vehicles at all! The mission was No Retreat with the table being set up around a river with fortifications on both banks.

Andy had an interesting Wiking list. It was small with two infantry platoons and a couple of 8-Rads but he also had 3 Panthers! Fearless Trained Panthers but Panthers none the less.

Here is how it turned out:

Soviet Deployment: The cunning Germans had pulled back from the river and had dug in along a hill line. In a moment of tactical ineptitude I decided to deploy on the far side of the river and then cross the ford and head for the far (lightly defended) objective...bad idea!

Decoy Panthers Move up to engage the enemy...is that another Panther I see?

The gypsy horde crosses the river (mostly). I had 2 BA-64's and a UC stuck in the ford for half the game. The M10's have moved up on the hill and one is promptly swatted by a Panther. They do force the Wiking Panthers back though as they don't want to run the risk of being in short range of them. The Rota in carriers are heading off towards the far objective while the Rota in the half tracks start to hose the Wiking troops on the hill with MG fire.

Andy's reinforcements ( a short infantry platoon and the 8-rads) have turned up and are camping on the far objective. The UC Rota are massing in the trench lines for an assault while the HT Rota pick away at the infantry. The M10's dispatch the 8-Rads with some lucky hits while the Decoy Panthers kill an enemy Half track. At this point I should say that Andy has had seriously bad luck with his Panthers, and had either missed with most of his shots or failed his Firepower rolls.

Massed MG and .50cal fire pays off, Andy's saves for his infantry on the hill. I then manage to pass 3 5+ firepower rolls...

At this point I'm still picking away at the Wiking infantry on the closest objective while my far UC Rota stand off against the far objective and draw fire from the Panthers

Massed firepower has picked apart the Wiking infantry on this flank and I start to creep forward for the assault. Andy pulls his Panthers over and I kill his Panther in the top right, but he gets one of mine next turn.

Last photo as I forgot to take more. After this shot I disembark and race forward and Flamethrower the German CO. 4 dice and one hit bails the Half Track. Its driven off by the 2iC i his scout car with his trusty 50cal. The Assault goes in after I bail a Panther with an M10. I dance through 4 hits in Defensive Fire and kill the CO but fail to hurt the Panther. It then crushes a team but I come back and drive it off when it fails a morale test...and capture the Bailed Panther. Yay, now we have a spare!

Meanwhile on the other flank my assault is stopped when my UC Rota (disembarked) move up through cover to get into assault range and the Lieutenant cops a bullet. They fall back on the trench line to preserve their strength.

Andy counter attacks with the last Panther and drives off my HT Rota to contest the objective. I move back up but my M10's roll into short range and put a shot through the hull to win me the game.

Huzzah, a 6-1 Victory.

I could have played this a lot better and I was very lucky to get away with the mistakes I made vs a player of Andy's calibre. if he had have been playing his usual CV Germans instead of the FT Wiking I would have been punished. Hitting his fragile troops on 3+ is a big disadvantage for him. His Panthers were cool but unlucky, and they are half his points total. They cant be everywhere so once I figured this out and ignored them to focus on the rest of the army their impact was limited.

Unit of the Match: M10's - 3' Guns and .50cals, whats not to love?. I had best get them painted by next week!